April 20, 2018
Pickets put LAUSD on notice: Fair contract now!
Rainy skies did not stop thousands of educators from picketing in front of schools yesterday to demand resources for our students and respect for our profession.
Rainy skies did not stop thousands of educators from picketing in front of schools yesterday to demand resources for our students and respect for our profession.
Educators from Alliance College-Ready Public Schools took their fight for a union to the charter chain’s home office in downtown LA on March 1. Backed by parents and community, labor, and elected leaders, the teachers called on Alliance CEO Dan Katzir to end the well-funded anti-union campaign and allow educators their right to make the decision about unionization without interference or coercion.
Social studies teacher Erica Huerta has seen both the good and the bad in class sizes during her 19 years with LAUSD. On the good side, she points to the small class sizes she had in her former Small Learning Community, where the teachers were able to collaborate with each other and create cross-curricular project-based assessments. With the personalization that lower class sizes allow, students made tremendous gains in graduation rates, college attendance, and overall learning growth.
As youth movements catapult school issues powerfully onto the national stage, now educator strikes are ripping through the country—making this arguably one of the most important moments in U.S. history for public education. West Virginia, Puerto Rico, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona. School funding, teacher salaries, privatization, learning conditions, learning supplies, working conditions, healthcare, pensions—they are all now front and center in the national debate.
With a rallying cry of “justice!” parents and community members led the charge outside the LAUSD School Board meeting April 10, denouncing the board majority for allowing the aggressive colocation of public schools and for keeping criminally indicted Ref Rodriguez in his seat for the most influential vote of his career: selecting the next superintendent.
Parents, educators, students, and community members stood united in Sacramento last month to announce a new bill, AB 2731, to generate funding for public schools and civic priorities. Sponsored by Assemblymember Mike Gipson and Reclaim Our Schools LA, the bill would close the carried interest tax loophole that allows hedge-fund managers to pay a substantially reduced federal tax rate on some of their income.
Joining the company of legendary Garfield High math teacher Jaime Escalante, Vanalden Elementary teacher Bradley Upshaw has been named to the National Teachers Hall of Fame. The nonprofit organization recognizes just five teachers a year who demonstrate extraordinary passion and commitment to their students and profession. Upshaw and Escalante are the only LAUSD representatives in the Hall of Fame.
On a weekend a couple of months ago, I was walking out of a store on Jefferson Boulevard in southwest LA when I heard a couple of familiar voices: Dorsey High School students Tayah Hubbard and Christabel Ukomadu.
Does the overtesting of your students have you at your limit? With all the changes to the elementary curriculum program this year, many teachers across the district have seen a rise in workload.